The Hazards of Travelling to Texas
The first trip I made to Texas was at the wheel of an overloaded 16-foot moving van, 4 miles into the journey, the shocks must have gone out, because I spent the next two days frantically keeping the wheels on the pavement.This time, the trip to Texas was no less harrowing. Here's a breakdown of events from December 30th, 2005:
12:45 am - eastern time
I finally finish a game of Settlers of Catan with Jackie's family. Jackie and her mom had the good sense to go home ahead of me, and I leave her grandparent's house in Edwardsberg, MI with her sister so I can be dropped off.
1:45 am - eastern time
Jackie is still awake when I get to her mother's. We stay up for a half an hour to wind ourselves down, but neither of us can sleep well.
6:15 am - eastern time
Jackie's mom frantically wakes us up and starts rushing around the house. The previous evening, she set her alarm and accidentally switched the time forward an hour. We have plenty of time, and decide to go to McDonald's for breakfast.
7:08 am - eastern time
As I eat my bacon, egg, and cheese mcgriddle, I realize I can't find the parking confirmation ticket anywhere. We parked in a Houston, TX long-term parking lot on the 20th of December, but we can't remember where it was, what it was called, or anything about it. I have a premonition of dark tidings.
7:50 am - eastern time
After piling ourselves and our luggage into a crowded van, we rush to the South Bend airport, where we can catch the 8am North Shore line to downtown Chicago. Jackie's mother, sister, her sister's husband, her 3-year old, her stepsister, and me were present. We find out that there is no 8am train, and the next one doesn't leave until 8:55 (information supplied by yet ANOTHER sister, who was currently sleeping soundly at the moment of the revelation).
9:00 am - eastern time
The train is stuffed to the gills, and cold as bejeesus. It take over 2 and a half hours to get to downtown Chicago. We try to sleep a little, but cannot.
10:45 am - central time
In Chicago, we head outside to walk to Marshall Fields with the luggage. Due to the sudden onset of a certain monthly requrement, Jackie is forced to make a quick stop into a crowded CVS. Everyone else goes into the warm pharmacy except me, as I have two overloaded bags in my hands. Instead, I sample the full effects of a gusty, 18 degree wind chill for ten minutes.
11:30am - central time
After I drop off our luggage on the 7th floor of Marshal Fields, I rejoin the family to enjoy a few hours of overcrowded commerce. The line to eat at the Walnut Room was 4 hours long. There was some discussion about eating there ourselves, but it was nixed quickly. Along with 6 floors of clothes, there was a small corner with some lame toys, a minimalist bookstore, and very little else for a fella like me to enjoy.
1:30pm - central time
Stifling yawns and fidgeting, I find myself outside again with the entire crew, fighting crowds and cold to observe the annual Marshal Field's holiday window display. This year, it was the story of Cinderella, told with disneyland-esque, moving puppets. I was knocked aside many times by people anxious to use their camera cellphones and their portable movie studios.
2:15pm - central time
I retrieve our luggage from the 7th floor, and we walk a few city blocks to get to the blue line train to O'Hare. Underground construction prohibited a short walk through the central station, so we had to walk a distance to get to the other side of it. With a ten day chistmas trip's worth of luggage in tow, the Earth's gravity must have shifted to 1.2 G's during that walk. I swear it did.
2:30pm - central time
We say our goodbyes at the subway station and board the rail.
3:45pm - central time
We check in our bags at O'Hare, and grab a bite to eat. Jackie and I are alone together for the first time in a week. It felt good. The feelings of glee evaportted when I saw that our flight was delayed an hour due to weather.
5:45pm - central time
I remember back 3 days eariler, when our original flight was set for the 27th. Jackie's mom couldn't bear such a short visit, so she paid to have our tickets extended to the 30th. It was a great guesture, and we enjoyed the extra time immensely. but it meant we couldn't sit together. Instead, Jackie ended up next to a mother with a screaming baby, and I was sat next to a chubby latino woman. She spent the flight adjusting her light, clearing her throat, and opening and closing her copy of a book by Joel Olsten. There was no sleeping.
8:45pm - central time
I am smiling for a moment because I was using some advice I got from a rental car counter. After describing our parking lot to the woman, and she was positive that I was talking about Park n' Pay. We boarded a shuttle.
9:15pm - central time
We return to the terminal on the same shuttle, and begin to look for one of two other parking lot companies (on the driver's advice, this time). I lose it in front of Jackie for a few minutes, and she does her best to hold me together.
9:45pm - central time
We finally make it to the car, which was parked in a lot called Xpress Park. Jackie actually cried.
10:45pm - central time
We are 15 minutes from the island, and have a muddled, incoherent argument about whether or not we should buy cat litter on the way home. I argued "con" for awhile, but there is a possibiliy that we may have swtiched our positions midstream.
11:10pm - central time
I purchase cat litter at a Walgreens in Galveston, and begin to get paranoid that the cats are dead from dehydration. 10 days, and no one's been around to check on them.
11:20pm - central time
We walk in the door, gather the mail, check the phone, change the cat litter, realize that nothing was stolen or broken into, and that the cats still had food and were still drinking from the bowl under the dripping bathroom faucet. Whew on all counts!!
11:45pm - central time
We love on the relived kitties for a moment or two, and fall into a well-deserved sleep.
posted by Chris W. @ 3:01 AM
